Remy sighed as she placed her bag on the kitchen counter, slumping in exhaustion with only her arms ensuring she remained upright at all. Her panic attack—she could find no other word for it—had drained her of any energy she'd had after the interrogation at the police station, so much so that she had barely made it home without curling up in a ball somewhere hidden.

It seemed she could not rest quite yet, though. Her mother's voice arose from behind her, terse and strained.

"Leo, take Vincent out for an ice cream, please."

It was clear that she wanted to talk to Remy. Getting rid of the others were simply her way of doing it. She had done the same thing millions of times before, when Remy came home too late, or sometimes, not at all, and Bianca felt it necessary to lecture her. She only wished now she would be scolded for the same thing, and not whatever it was she was going to say instead.

"Are you joking? It's freezing," Leo complained. He was stood at the fridge, the door wide open as he searched for something to eat. His appetite had not changed, then, since Remy had been away. That did not surprise her.

"And I wanted to play with Rem," Vincent added. Remy had not known he was standing behind her, not until his hands snaked around her hips and he hung on to her for dear life. Remy wanted to bend down to him, tell him they could play later, whatever game he wanted, but she was too tired, and too much dreading what was to come. Instead, she clung to the edge of the counter, the rough wood digging into her palms, and closed her eyes.

"You can play later." It was clear Bianca was tired, too, from the way she sighed and spoke as though she barely had the energy to do so. "I need to speak to Remy first, alright? Leo?"

Leo glared at Remy for a moment, but she barely noticed, keeping her eyes down. It was clear that he had taken over Remy's babysitting duties since she had left, and for that she felt guilty. He was in his last year of school, after all. It couldn't have been easy for him, but Remy had done it.  

"Fine," he said finally.

There was a shuffling. Remy imagined him pulling on his own coat, then zipping up Vincent's, all the while scowling at her back. Her neck tingled with the image of being watched. Then, the door slammed and she turned around. She wished she hadn't.

Her mother was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, a blank expression on her face. Bianca only looked blank when she was trying not to look as angry as she felt, and Remy's stomach twisted with this knowledge.

"Where's Mia?" Remy questioned as nonchalantly as she could, though her voice was cracked. She was dehydrated, and probably starving, but she barely thought about food or water anymore.

"Out with friends. She'll be home later."

Remy nodded, unable to meet her mother's eyes. "Well, what is it? What have I done now?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were with a boy?"

This jolted Remy upwards. She looked at her mother finally, gulping as her defences rose within her. "How do you know about that?"

"Constable Rowley told me. She said you seemed very upset about it."

Remy raised an eyebrow, bitterness seeping into her veins as though it was a real, physical substance that she could feel, taste, even. There was also a feeling of betrayal, though she couldn't quite understand why. The police owed her no loyalty, no promise to keep her secrets.

"Oh, did she?" she retorted finally, gulping. "And here I was thinking that police confidentiality was still very much a thing. The system really has changed since I left."

"Don't." Bianca shook her head, inching towards her daughter. "She told me because she thought I should know, and she was right. I should. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it isn't important."

"Was he the reason you were gone for so long? Did he make you stay? Was he forceful, controlling?"

She scoffed, scraping her hair back with so much force that her scalp ached. "You're as bad as the police. You just ... You make up this image in your head, because it's easier than the truth, easier than knowing I wanted to go. Do you honestly think I'd run away with some abusive, toxic guy I barely know? Do you honestly think I'm that weak?"

"I don't know what you are anymore!" Tears flooded Bianca's eyes, and she let out a sob that echoed over and over again in Remy's ears until her chest felt as though it might split open. It was one that said, 'I am broken. You have broken me.' It was one that Remy never wanted to hear again.

"Neither do I," was all she could whisper, and she sank down onto the cold tiles below her, her back pressed against the kitchen-top. There were a few, achingly long moments of silence, and then Bianca slid down next to her, her knees to her chest. Her arm brushed against Remy's, and it felt as though she was eleven years old again, when her father had left for the first time and she had sat with Bianca on the kitchen floor for hours while she cried.

"Did you love him?" she questioned finally, giving Remy a small nudge with her elbow. "Was he 'hot', as you young people say?"

"Yes," Remy whispered, trying to suppress a smile, and perhaps a blush, though her face was so pasty that any colour seemed to have disappeared from it. "He definitely wasn't ugly, anyway. He didn't hurt me, mum, and he didn't force me to stay. I promise."

"Then you really did stay because you wanted to. Because it was better than coming home."

"No." She let out a ragged breath and rested her head in the crook of Bianca's neck. "I just ... got lost. I was stupid. Maybe I wanted to think I was better than this town for a while."

"You always have been better than this town." A kiss was planted on the back of Remy's head, and then her back was being rubbed gently, just as it had been when she was little. It had been years since her mother had cared this much, had treated her eldest daughter like a daughter and not a babysitter. Remy couldn't help but wonder if she'd be having this same moment had she not left. "I always knew you'd leave eventually. Just not like this."

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry, mum."

"I know." Bianca placed her arms around her—a little too tightly, perhaps, but Remy didn't mind. And then, she said, "So what happened with this boy? Where is he now?"

She shrugged even though she knew the answer and tried not to imagine Maksim wandering through the streets of Astracia with his usual scowl on his face. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what he was doing right now, and how long had passed since he had left her for him; had it been days, as it had for her, or mere hours? Did it hurt just as much, or was he already moving on? She couldn't imagine him in the same state she had been in at the beach, heaving for breath because there was a hole in her chest. Did he even think about her?

She had almost forgotten the question, and could barely formulate an answer.

"He left me," she replied finally, feeling ice fill her stomach. "I'll probably never see him again. You don't have to worry about that."

"Oh sweetheart," she mumbled gently, stroking Remy's hair. Remy would have felt foolish any other time, but she needed this, she knew. She needed her mother to tell her it would be okay, even if it didn't feel like it would. She needed to be treated like a child after having to be an adult in Astracia for too long, and nearly dying because of it. It was then that she remembered why she had wanted to come home, and for the first time since emerging from the portal, felt as though she finally was. "There'll be other boys. Hopefully ones that don't make you go missing off the face of the earth."

He wasn't just a boy, she wanted to argue. She couldn't, though. Instead, she simply nodded and feigned a smile, because she knew that's what her mother needed.

"Would you mind if I went for a quick nap?" She stretched out her legs, standing up and feeling cold without Bianca's arm wrapped around her. "The sea air tired me out, and I didn't sleep very well last night."

"Of course." Bianca smiled, and for the first time since Remy had come back, she didn't look completely lost. "As long as you know you can talk to me about all of this, whenever you want. I'm here for you. I love you, Rem. You do know that, don't you?"

"I know. I love you, too."

She didn't waste any more time standing awkwardly above her mother, who seemed to have no intention of moving from the floor anytime soon. Still, as she found her room and shut the door behind her, she felt as though a weight had been lifted.

That was, until she felt it: the feeling of the right thing in the wrong place. 

It was as though she had fallen back into Astracia. The air was too close, too heavy, and there was a smell of copper that Remy knew now meant magic had been used. For a moment, she half-expected Maksim to pop out of nowhere and take her back to the pink skies and cobbled streets, but the room was empty save for her, and she was not stupid enough to think he would come back for her.

Then, her heart fluttered. Had Ackmard been here? Did he know where she lived? Had he been rooting through her things, lurking around her room and listening to the conversation from the kitchen?

No. Dark magic did not smell like copper, and Remy had nothing left that Ackmard could possibly want.

Without realising it, she was inching towards the centre of the room—no, towards her bedside table. It was as though someone had tied rope around her waist and was pulling her forwards, as though her body knew before her mind did that she would find what she was looking for here.

And then she found it.

It was the key. Black and curved and etched with patterns and symbols she could not read but knew what they said anyway. It was lying on her bedside table as though it had never left, as though she had simply put it there and forgot about it. She felt it, picked it up. It was cold for the first time in days, or was it weeks? Still, she could feel the metal humming with repressed life, and knew it was the same one.

She ran her fingers over it anyway, feeling the roughly cut edges of the tip and then the smooth swirls of the bow. It was heavy in her palm, and brought a comfort she had not expected to feel. She still expected to feel it around her neck sometimes, and felt empty when it was no longer there. Now, it was back. The emptiness had been filled, if only for a moment.

Her heart began to pound in her chest, her head, the tips of her fingers where she clutched the key. Why was it here? How was it here? The Principle Warlock had taken it from her, ensured her that it would be kept somewhere safe. It should not have been here, in the Mortal World, with a mortal.

She had not even noticed the note beside it in her panic, and now she picked it up, frowning. The calligraphy was in a deep emerald colour, and so filled with swirls and loops that it was difficult to make out.

Remy still could, though, if she squinted enough.

My dear Remy,

I believe this belongs to you. It always has, and so I had no choice but to return it to you—particularly when a friend requested that I did so. This same friend wishes for you to return to Refilyn that you can speak to them in person. I would not recommend missing such a meeting.

I know you must have questions. If you wish for them to be answered (and I am sure you do, for I know you well enough by now), I ask that you meet me tomorrow morning. I will be waiting on the other side of the portal. Your entrance to it will be opened at 10am, mortal time, and will be positioned in its usual spot. Bring the key with you, but do not wear it around your neck. We must be discreet with it now, for no one can know you have it.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Yours most sincerely,

Ms. Hilda Opal.

[AN: two updates within a few days, wutttt?

anyways I was thinking of putting together a playlist for the book, but more specifically remy x maksim just because I was listening to a song before I wrote this and it really reminded me of them and I just thought it would be cute. (the song was love like this by kodaline and i'll put it in the media bar)

I always private my Spotify playlists but once the playlist is done I could put it on 8tracks? if you guys aren't interested i'll just keep the playlist for writing inspiration and maybe name songs I listened to while or before writing certain chapters. let me know! 

who do you guys think Hilda's 'friend' is? I am excitedddd for the plot to get going again, and for Remy to be back in Astracia. Let me know what you think!]